Taking the Nicky!
The sight of Nicky Butt punching the air at St Jamesâ Park was one we never thought weâÂÂd see.
He just doesnâÂÂt seem to look right in a black and white shirt - but on Saturday he spared a few blushes against Villarreal with a cracking pair of headers.
These were two goals the Golden Head himself Ferenc Puskas would have been proud of never mind your average Premiership striker!
The truth is had Birmingham City - where he spent last year on loan - stayed up Butt wouldnâÂÂt be here.
In both of his home games this season Butt has been forced to endure the boos normally reserved for certain ex-players, Roy Keane and anyone in a Sunderland shirt following his desperate efforts against his old club Man U in the 2005 FA Cup semi-final in Cardiff - which actually triggered his loan switch St Andrews.
But even by the crazy precedents set at St Jamesâ Park down the years the re-birth of Butt was simply surreal - he played a blinder and even the most stubborn members of the Toon Army wouldnâÂÂt mind a bit more of the same.
Booed on to the pitch by certain sections but applauded off by some of the same people 23 minutes later he rescued United at 3-1 down with two goals in as many minutes to earn a draw.
You simply cannot write a script for it!
And not only that but the Mancunian was then named as the sponsors man of the match for his brief role against the Spaniards.
It was only a friendly and ButtâÂÂs future remains very much up in the air.
HeâÂÂs sold his house in the area and he is keeping his fingers crossed for a move back to his native North-West before the end of the month.
Butt will always carry a torch for Man United after winning a bucketful of medals at Old Trafford.
Yet he must keep that locked inside - just like Geordie and Toon fan Michael Carrick will have to for the Red Devils this season when he returns to fitness.
And if Butt - who has two years left on his current deal - can put in that kind of shift week in, week out while he remains at Newcastle, nobody can have any complaints, can they?
Should Butt remain at Gallowgate until after the transfer deadline? WeâÂÂll have to wait and see.
But are the boos for the ex-Man United man really justified for now?
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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One swallow doesnt make a summer and two headed goals (as good as they were)certainly dont make Nicky Butt a player we should be looking to keep at the toon . The bloke is not interested and saturday i suspect was your typical shop window performance the sad thing is i cant see any one stumping up the kind of money he draws at Newcastle so it looks as though we are stuck with him.
I hope that Nicky Butt's display against Villareal will silence that idiot minority on the terraces for good. Roeder has mentioned it, you have, and several of your bloggers - do not boo your own folk however bad you think they are playing. Newcastle fans are renowned for their desire for success but let us achieve that by being fair especially to our own. Nicky Butt gave a master class in attacking midfield play, not just for his two goals but by driving other players forward with precision passing. This sort of performance gives Glen a nice problem in midfield. Who now does he leave out?
I think the whole reaction after the FA Cup semi was blown out of proportion, the guy grew up at Man Utd with Alex Ferguson being like a father figure to him - what was he supposed to do, just ignore all his friends who he achieved so much with simply because his current employers had lost? You can't force someone to be a Geordie if they're simply not one.
Fair enough he might be inconsistent and generally not good enough for our first team, but as far as boos are concerned it's just pathetic. Anyone who boos their own players should be simply ashamed. Best supporters in the world? Give me a break. Most fickle supporters in the world? Hmmm...
nicky butt..nicky butt...what can ya say...brilliant goals...buy he,ll always be a man u lover....hopefully that,ll help his cv when we part with him...
Butt is still the worse midfielder at the club, now that Faye has left. His goals were a good sign, but I just think he's not Newcastle United quality. However, I'd keep him as a good cover, provided he is ready to sit on the bench. The calibre of top top midfielders we have had here before are a class apart from Butt. But I'l keep him.
You should never boo one of your own at a game...berate them in the boozer by all means but not when they are wearing black and white!
I think he should be given a second chance. He proved on Saturday how well
he can play. We should give him a run in the team and see how he goes. We
could use the money we are going to spend on Gravesen on getting someone we
really need, a striker who can score goals.
Gary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
via email
Did anyone notice that Parker looked a lot better when but came on?
I think Parker and Emre are too similar to play together without a sitting midfielder, neither knows whether to attack or defend.
Butt can still be useful if he can raise his game.
Does anyone else think we could deploy a very effective Chelsea-style 4-5-1 formation this season with Butt, Parker and Emre in the middle? Butt would do the Makalele, freeing Parker and Emre to do Lampard/Essien's jobs... then we have any two out of Solano, Milner, Luque, Duff, Dyer(!) and Zogs for the wide positions, with Ameobi doing Drogba's job of playing below par but still scoring a few goals!
Newcastle lack a central midfield pairing that can play together and Roeder has had to chop and change to try and find a format that works during the pre-season.
We lack a box to box midfielder with pace and creativity to add to the list of deficiencies glaringly obvious within this squad.
Emre is a 60 minute man who doesnot have the capacity to track back regularly. His quality isn't in doubt but sadly his stamina is.
If we play him behind a front two then we will need to play a five man midfield with two holding players behind him and three at the back.
The loss of Faye will be telling as a squad player because he is the only mobile experienced central midfielder we have in the squad at present.
Gravesen is a good player who will improve the squad and possibly allow Butt to move on if that is his wish.
However no one can deny his organisational abilities watch how much talking and organising he does compared to Parker.
Communication or lack of it on the pitch has been a problem in midfield and defensive areas for far too long and shows no sign of improving.
Glenn needs to deal with this too.
That's an excellent point by Liam about communication - just look at Bramble's error against Villareal that almost cost us a goal. Where was the shout of "man on" from Given? And the point about Scott Parker specifically is also true - he is a cracking player who gives 110% but he lacks the presence of players like Vieira and Keane.
Any player who has been a part of the Man Uts squad for 10 years & won countless trophies with them including the European Cup, can't become a bad player overnight.
Nor could Nicky Butt have been carried by the rest of the Man Utd squad.
He's obviously good just something which I can't explain, nor anyone else by the looks of it, is making him look a million mile away from Manchester United quality